Preface:
The Messenger of Allah - may Allah bestow peace and benedictions upon him and his Progeny - said: "Verily, I am leaving behind two precious things (thaqalayn) among you: the Book of God and my kindred (`itrah), my household (Ahl alBayt), for indeed, the two will never separate until they come back to me by the Pond (of alKawthar on the Judgement's Day)."
Imam Khumayni - ridwan Allah `alayh - began his wasiyyah or will with the mention of this tradition of the Prophet (S), known as Hadith alThaqalayn. In the prologue to his wasiyyah he pointed out that whatever tragedies and disasters befell the Muslim world during the last fourteen centuries have been mainly due to its estrangement from the Thaqalayn, the twofold legacy of the Prophet (S) in the form of the Qur'an and the Ahl alBayt (A).
The extent of the estrangement of the Qur'an will be obvious to anyone who closely examines its teachings and contrasts them with the popular religion of the masses and the prevailing religious ethos, even among the scholars and the intelligentsia. There is certainly a wide gulf that lies between the message and spirit of the Glorious Qur'an and the way Islam has come to be practised in Muslim society, a gulf which has never been so wide as it became in recent centuries under the influence of the West and the tyrannical regimes that have been ruling over Muslims.
The extent of the estrangement suffered by the Prophet's Household will be obvious to anyone who studies the history of the Imams of the Ahl alBayt (A), who were isolated from the Muslim masses by despots and left without support in their struggle against the tyrannical regimes of Banu Umayyah and Banu `Abbas. The result was that the most authentic exponents and defenders of the Qur'an - whom the tides of time will never separate from the Qur'an until the Day of Judgement, as stated by the Noble Prophet (S) - were put under severe surveillance, exiled, imprisoned, poisoned and martyred, and the masses were deprived of their guidance and leadership.
Having removed the Ahl alBayt (A) from their way, the road was opened by the selfseeking tyrants for making the Holy Qur'an itself an instrument for the justification of their antiQur'anic rule. "They forced," as Imam Khumayni says, "the true exponents of the Qur'an... off the stage with various ploys and systematic plans. In this way, they in fact, eliminated the Qur'an itself, the Qur'an which was the greatest programme for organizing man's material and spiritual life, and rejected its plan of government based on Divine justice, which was and remains one of the ideals of this sacred scripture. Thus they laid the foundations of deviation from the Din and the Book of God, bringing things ultimately to an indescribable extreme."
If today the custodians of American Islam with their petrodollars conspire against the aspirations of the Muslim masses inspired by the genuine Islam, so did once the Umayyad and `Abbasid tyrants stand in the way of Islam and seek to isolate and destroy its exponents, the Imams of the Ahl alBayt (A), and promote a counterfeit version of Islam. But no matter how much they tried they could not extirpate the Prophet's exhortations regarding the Ahl alBayt and conceal the unbreakable link between the Book of God and the Prophet's `Itrah, in the form of Hadith alThaqalayn and scores of other traditions similar to it.
This hadith has continued to be narrated by each generation of authentic Shi`i and Sunni traditionists and scholars throughout the last fourteen centuries. Reliable and trustworthy narrators of each generation, from the days of the Prophet's committed Companions - may God be pleased with them - to the present, including many or rather most of the greatest and leading figures in the history of Islamic scholarship have narrated this hadith. It is in view of this undeniable fact that Imam Khumayni declared in his wasiyyah:
It is essential to point out that Hadith alThaqalayn is a mutawatir tradition amongst all Muslims. It has been narrated in Sunni sources - including the Six Sihah as well as other books - from the Holy Prophet (S) in different wordings, and as having been spoken by him on repeated occasions. This tradition is a definite proof (hujjah) for all mankind, in particular for the Muslims, regardless of sect. And all Muslims are answerable (before God) concerning it. For it leaves no room for any excuse for any one. And should there be room for an excuse for the ignorant and the uninformed, there isn't any for the scholars of various schools.
As we know, the tradition or ahadith of the Holy Prophet (S) recorded in the books of Muslim traditionists begin with chains of transmitters on whose authority the traditionist reports the Prophet's acts or statements. Experts of hadith amongst Muslims have developed certain criteria for assessing the reliability of different chains of transmission and ascertaining the authenticity of the contents of traditions. They have developed a terminology with terms denoting various classifications of hadith depending on the character, strength or weakness of narrators and other factors, such as mutawatir, ahad, sahih, hasan, qawi, da`if, etc.
By tawatur is meant the multiplicity of the sources of a certain report that leads to certitude in the listener that the report is indeed true. One's knowledge of the existence of distant countries and towns and such historical figures as Cyrus or Napolean may be said to be based on the tawatur of reports that one hears about them. So also is one's knowledge of the contemporary events not witnessed by him.
A mutawatir hadith is one which has been reported by so many different chains of transmission and such a number of narrators in every generation as normally could not agree to fabricate a tradition without the fact of its fabrication becoming known. Although some jurisprudents have specified a particular minimum for the number of narrators, such as five, seven, ten or even hundred, it is generally held that no particular number can be specified and the number capable of producing certitude depends on the experience of the listener.
Islamic jurisprudents have set forth certain conditions for a tradition to be mutawatir. AlGhazali in alMustasfa min `ilm al'usul [1] mentions the following conditions.
(1) That the transmitters should report on the basis of knowledge (`ilm) and not conjecture (zann).
(2) Their knowledge should have been acquired through the senses.
(3) That the number of narrators should be sufficient to produce certitude.
(4) That all the links in the chains of transmission of a report should fulfil the first two conditions and their number in every stage of transmission must fulfil the third condition.
AlShaykh alHasan ibn Zayn alDin, the Shi`i author of Ma`alim al'usul, mentions similar conditions for a report to be mutawatir. As can be seen, the legal condition of `adalah (justice) is not required for the narrators nor are they required to be thiqah when the conditions of tawatur are fulfilled. Rather, alGhazali states explicitly that in such cases knowledge is attained even if the narrators should be fasiq. The author of Ma`alim states two conditions in order for a mutawatir report to produce knowledge in the listener:
(1) The listener should not have previous knowledge of the matter, for it is not possible to know something that one already knows.
(2) The listener should not be inhibited by doubt or imitation (taqlid) in his belief, for then the report will fail to make any impression upon him.
Preface:
The Messenger of Allah - may Allah bestow peace and benedictions upon him and his Progeny - said: "Verily, I am leaving behind two precious things (thaqalayn) among you: the Book of God and my kindred (`itrah), my household (Ahl alBayt), for indeed, the two will never separate until they come back to me by the Pond (of alKawthar on the Judgement's Day)."
Imam Khumayni - ridwan Allah `alayh - began his wasiyyah or will with the mention of this tradition of the Prophet (S), known as Hadith alThaqalayn. In the prologue to his wasiyyah he pointed out that whatever tragedies and disasters befell the Muslim world during the last fourteen centuries have been mainly due to its estrangement from the Thaqalayn, the twofold legacy of the Prophet (S) in the form of the Qur'an and the Ahl alBayt (A).
The extent of the estrangement of the Qur'an will be obvious to anyone who closely examines its teachings and contrasts them with the popular religion of the masses and the prevailing religious ethos, even among the scholars and the intelligentsia. There is certainly a wide gulf that lies between the message and spirit of the Glorious Qur'an and the way Islam has come to be practised in Muslim society, a gulf which has never been so wide as it became in recent centuries under the influence of the West and the tyrannical regimes that have been ruling over Muslims.
The extent of the estrangement suffered by the Prophet's Household will be obvious to anyone who studies the history of the Imams of the Ahl alBayt (A), who were isolated from the Muslim masses by despots and left without support in their struggle against the tyrannical regimes of Banu Umayyah and Banu `Abbas. The result was that the most authentic exponents and defenders of the Qur'an - whom the tides of time will never separate from the Qur'an until the Day of Judgement, as stated by the Noble Prophet (S) - were put under severe surveillance, exiled, imprisoned, poisoned and martyred, and the masses were deprived of their guidance and leadership.
Having removed the Ahl alBayt (A) from their way, the road was opened by the selfseeking tyrants for making the Holy Qur'an itself an instrument for the justification of their antiQur'anic rule. "They forced," as Imam Khumayni says, "the true exponents of the Qur'an... off the stage with various ploys and systematic plans. In this way, they in fact, eliminated the Qur'an itself, the Qur'an which was the greatest programme for organizing man's material and spiritual life, and rejected its plan of government based on Divine justice, which was and remains one of the ideals of this sacred scripture. Thus they laid the foundations of deviation from the Din and the Book of God, bringing things ultimately to an indescribable extreme."
If today the custodians of American Islam with their petrodollars conspire against the aspirations of the Muslim masses inspired by the genuine Islam, so did once the Umayyad and `Abbasid tyrants stand in the way of Islam and seek to isolate and destroy its exponents, the Imams of the Ahl alBayt (A), and promote a counterfeit version of Islam. But no matter how much they tried they could not extirpate the Prophet's exhortations regarding the Ahl alBayt and conceal the unbreakable link between the Book of God and the Prophet's `Itrah, in the form of Hadith alThaqalayn and scores of other traditions similar to it.
This hadith has continued to be narrated by each generation of authentic Shi`i and Sunni traditionists and scholars throughout the last fourteen centuries. Reliable and trustworthy narrators of each generation, from the days of the Prophet's committed Companions - may God be pleased with them - to the present, including many or rather most of the greatest and leading figures in the history of Islamic scholarship have narrated this hadith. It is in view of this undeniable fact that Imam Khumayni declared in his wasiyyah:
It is essential to point out that Hadith alThaqalayn is a mutawatir tradition amongst all Muslims. It has been narrated in Sunni sources - including the Six Sihah as well as other books - from the Holy Prophet (S) in different wordings, and as having been spoken by him on repeated occasions. This tradition is a definite proof (hujjah) for all mankind, in particular for the Muslims, regardless of sect. And all Muslims are answerable (before God) concerning it. For it leaves no room for any excuse for any one. And should there be room for an excuse for the ignorant and the uninformed, there isn't any for the scholars of various schools.
The Meaning of Tawatur:
As we know, the tradition or ahadith of the Holy Prophet (S) recorded in the books of Muslim traditionists begin with chains of transmitters on whose authority the traditionist reports the Prophet's acts or statements. Experts of hadith amongst Muslims have developed certain criteria for assessing the reliability of different chains of transmission and ascertaining the authenticity of the contents of traditions. They have developed a terminology with terms denoting various classifications of hadith depending on the character, strength or weakness of narrators and other factors, such as mutawatir, ahad, sahih, hasan, qawi, da`if, etc.
By tawatur is meant the multiplicity of the sources of a certain report that leads to certitude in the listener that the report is indeed true. One's knowledge of the existence of distant countries and towns and such historical figures as Cyrus or Napolean may be said to be based on the tawatur of reports that one hears about them. So also is one's knowledge of the contemporary events not witnessed by him.
A mutawatir hadith is one which has been reported by so many different chains of transmission and such a number of narrators in every generation as normally could not agree to fabricate a tradition without the fact of its fabrication becoming known. Although some jurisprudents have specified a particular minimum for the number of narrators, such as five, seven, ten or even hundred, it is generally held that no particular number can be specified and the number capable of producing certitude depends on the experience of the listener.
Islamic jurisprudents have set forth certain conditions for a tradition to be mutawatir. AlGhazali in alMustasfa min `ilm al'usul [1] mentions the following conditions.
(1) That the transmitters should report on the basis of knowledge (`ilm) and not conjecture (zann).
(2) Their knowledge should have been acquired through the senses.
(3) That the number of narrators should be sufficient to produce certitude.
(4) That all the links in the chains of transmission of a report should fulfil the first two conditions and their number in every stage of transmission must fulfil the third condition.
AlShaykh alHasan ibn Zayn alDin, the Shi`i author of Ma`alim al'usul, mentions similar conditions for a report to be mutawatir. As can be seen, the legal condition of `adalah (justice) is not required for the narrators nor are they required to be thiqah when the conditions of tawatur are fulfilled. Rather, alGhazali states explicitly that in such cases knowledge is attained even if the narrators should be fasiq. The author of Ma`alim states two conditions in order for a mutawatir report to produce knowledge in the listener:
(1) The listener should not have previous knowledge of the matter, for it is not possible to know something that one already knows.
(2) The listener should not be inhibited by doubt or imitation (taqlid) in his belief, for then the report will fail to make any impression upon him.
Some Sahih Versions of the Hadith:
Hadith alThaqalayn is a mutawatir tradition which has been narrated - as we will presently see in our introductory study of `Abaqat al'anwar, a book written to establish the fact of its tawatur - through scores of different chains of transmission (turuq) only in the Sunni hadith corpus. If we add to these the Shi`i turuq of the tradition, the total number of its narrators becomes considerable.
Apart from being mutawatir, the hadith has been transmitted through several sahih turuq, that is, through chains in which all the transmitters are regarded as thiqah or as of confirmed trustworthiness and reliability. Following are four of these sahih narrations of the tradition as recorded by Muslim and alHakim alNayshaburi in their compilations:
(Muslim says:) Zuhayr ibn Harb and Shuja` ibn Makhlad narrated to me from `Ulayyah that he said: Zuhayr said: narrated to us Isma`il ibn Ibrahim, from Abu Hayyan, from Yazid ibn Hayyan, who said: "I, Husayn ibn Sabrah and `Umar ibn Muslim went to see Zayd ibn Arqam. When we sat down with him, Husayn said to him, 'O Zayd, you have been greatly fortunate. You have seen the Messenger of Allah, upon whom be Allah's peace and benedictions, heard his speech, fought with him in battles and have prayed behind him. Indeed, O Zayd, you have been enormously fortunate. Narrate to us what you have heard from the Messenger of Allah , may Allah's peace and benedictions be upon him.'
"Zayd said: 'O brother, by God, I have become aged and old and I have forgotten some of what I used to remember from the Messenger of Allah , upon whom be Allah's peace and benedictions. So accept what I narrate to you and as to what I don't, trouble me not regarding it.' Then he said: 'One day the Messenger of Allah , upon whom be Allah's peace and benedictions, addressed us near a pond called Khumm between Makkah and Madinah. He praised God and extolled Him and preached and reminded (us). Then he said, "Lo, O people, I am only a human being and I am about to respond to the messenger of my Lord [i.e. the call of death]. I am leaving behind two precious things (thaqalayn) among you. The first of the two is the Book of Allah. In it is guidance and light. So get hold of the Book of Allah and adhere to it." Then he urged and motivated (us) regarding the Book of Allah . Then he said, "And my Ahl alBayt (family). I urge you to remember God regarding my Ahl alBayt. I urge you to remember God regarding my Ahl alBayt. I urge you to remember God regarding my Ahl alBayt"'" ....
(Sahih Muslim, part 7, Kitab fada'il alSahabah [Maktabat wa Matba`at Muhammad `Ali Subayh wa Awladuhu: Cairo] pp. 122-123.)
(AlHakim says:) Narrated to us Abu alHusayn Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Tamim alHanzali in Baghdad, from Abu Qallabah `Abd alMalik ibn Muhammad alRaqqashi, from Yahya ibn Hammad; also narrated to me Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Balawayh and Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Ja`far alBazzaz, both of them from `Abd Allah ibn Ahmad ibn Hanbal, from his father, from Yahya ibn Hammad; and also narrated to us Abu Nasr Ahmad ibn Suhayl, the faqih of Bukhara, from Salih ibn Muhammad, the hafiz of Baghdad, from Khalaf ibn Salim alMakhrami, from Yahya ibn Hammad; and Yahya ibn Hammad narrated from Abu `Uwwanah from Sulayman al'A`mash, from Habib ibn Abi Thabit, from Abu alTufayl, from Zayd ibn Arqam, may God be pleased with him, who said: "The Messenger of Allah , may God's peace and benedictions be upon him and his progeny, while returning from his last hajj (hijjat alwada') came down at Ghadir Khumm and ordered (us) towards the big trees, and (the ground) underneath them was swept.
"Then he said, 'I am about to answer the call (of death). Verily, I have left behind two precious things amongst you, one of which is greater than the other. The Book of Allah , the Exalted, and my `itrah (kindred). So watch out how you treat these two after me, for verily they will not separate from each other until they come back to me by the side of the Pond.' Then he said 'Verily, Allah , the Almighty and the Glorious, is my master (mawla) and I am the master of every believer (mu'min).' Then he took `Ali, may God be pleased with him, by the hand and said, 'This (`Ali) is the master of whomever I am his master. O God, love whoever loves him and be the enemy of his enemy.'"
(AlHakim adds:) "This hadith is sahih in accordance with the conditions of sihhah laid down by the Shaykhayn (alBukhari and Muslim), although they have not recorded it in its full length."
(AlHakim says:) The first tradition (mentioned above) is supported by this one narrated by Salamah ibn Kuhayl, from Abu alTufayl, which is also sahih according to the requirements of alBukhari and Muslim. Narrated to us Abu Bakr ibn Ishaq and Da`laj ibn Ahmad alSijzi, both of them from Muhammad ibn Ayyub, from al'Azraq ibn `Ali, from Hassan ibn Ibrahim alKirmani, from Muhammad ibn Salamah ibn Kuhayl, from his father, from Abu al-Tufayl, from Ibn Wathilah that he heard Zayd ibn Arqam, may God be pleased with him, say: "The Messenger of Allah , may Allah 's peace and benedictions be upon him and his progeny, came down at a place between Makkah and Madinah near the trees with five big shades and the people swept the ground under the trees. Then the Messenger of Allah , may God's peace and benediction be upon him and his progeny, began to perform the evening prayer. After the prayer he began to address the people. He praised God and extolled Him, preaching and reminding (us), and said what God wanted him to say. Then he said, 'O people! Verily, I am leaving behind two matters (amrayn) among you if you follow them (the two) you will never go astray. These two are: the Book of God and my ahl albayt, my `itrah.' Then he said thrice: 'Do you know that I have more right over the believers (Inni awla bi almu'minin) than they over themselves?' The people said, 'Yes.' Then the Messenger of Allah , may Allah's peace and benedictions be upon him and his progeny said, 'Of whomever I am his master (mawla) `Ali also is his master.'"
(al'Imam al-Hafiz Abu `Abd Allah alHakim alNaysaburi, alMustadrak `ala al-Sahihayn [Dar alMa`rifah li alTiba`ah wa alNashr: Beirut), vol. iii, pp. 109-110).
(AlHakim says:) Narrated to us Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn alHusayn ibn Muslim, the faqih of Ray, from Muhammad ibn Ayyub, from Yahya ibn al-Mughirah alSa`di, from Jarir ibn `Abd alHamid, from alHasan ibn `Abd Allah alNakha`i, from Muslim ibn Subayh, from Zayd ibn Arqam, may God be pleased with him, who said: "The Messenger of Allah , may Allah's peace and benedictions be upon him and his progeny, said, 'Verily, I leave behind two precious things amongst you: the Book of Allah and my ahl albayt. Verily, the two will never separate until they come back to me by the side of the Pond.'"
(AlHakim says:) This hadith is sahih al'isnad according to the conditions laid down by the Shaykhayn (alBukhari and Muslim), though they did not record it. (alHakim, op. cit., vol. iii, p. 148)
These are four versions of the tradition narrated on the authority of Zayd ibn Arqam. Their sihhah (authenticity) is confirmed by two of the great Sunni Imams of hadith. In addition, as we will see in our study of `Abaqatal'anwar, the tradition has been narrated by more than thirty Companions of the Prophet (S) and a host of narrators and leading traditionists of every generation up to the contemporary era.
The Various Occasions Related to Hadith alThaqalayn:
The various narrations of Hadith alThaqalayn also indicate the occasion on which the Prophet (S) proclaimed it publicly. `Allamah `Abd al-`Aziz Tabataba'i, who has studied the various narrations of Hadith al-Thaqalayn as recorded by various traditionists mentions four occasions on which the Prophet (S) proclaimed it publicly. First of these is the occasion when the Prophet (S) proclaimed it during his last hajj at `Arafat. On this occasion, the Prophet (S) was accompanied by more than a hundred thousand Muslims. The second occasion relates to his proclamation at Ghadir Khumm, during the course of his return journey to Madinah. The third occasion relates to his proclamation in the Mosque of Madinah. The fourth one relates to his pronouncement of Hadith alThaqalayn in his chamber during his last illness. All these occasions lie within a period of ninety days and pertain to the Prophet's last days.
There are, however, many narrations of the hadith - in fact, most of them - which do not contain any clue about the time and place of its pronouncement. In the following are given instances of the narrations of Hadith alThaqalayn relating to each of these occasions, accompanied by the sources which record them. [2]
AlTirmidhi in his Sunan (v, 662, no. 3786) records the following tradition
....Jabir ibn `Abd Allah said: "I saw the Messenger of Allah - upon whom be God's peace and benedictions - in the course of his hajj pilgrimage on the day of `Arafah. The Prophet (S) was seated on his camel, alQaswa', and was delivering a sermon. I heard him say: 'O people, I am leaving among you that which if you hold on to you shall never go astray: the Book of Allah and my kindred, my household."
AlTirmidhi states that the same tradition has been narrated by Abu Dharr, Abu Sa`id, Zayd ibn Arqam and Hudhayfah ibn Usayd.
Among others who have recorded this tradition are:
- alHafiz Ibn Abi Shaybah, as in Kanz al`ummal (1st ed.), i, 48;
- al`Uqayli in alDu`afa' alKabir, ii, 250;
- alHakim alTirmidhi, Nawadir al-'usul, 68, 50th asl;
- alTabarani, alMu`jam alkabir, iii, 63, no. 2679;
- alKhatib, alMuttafiq wa almuftariq, cf. Kanz al`ummal, i, 48 and Majma' alzawa'id, v, 195; ix, 163, x, 363, 268;
- alBaghawi, al-Masabih, ii, 206;
- Ibn al'Athir, Jami` al'usul, i, 277, no. 65;
- al-Rafi`i, alTadwin, ii, 264 (in the biographical account of Ahmad ibn Mihran alQattan; this hadith has been deleted in the Indian print, but is present in the manuscripts of the book ! );
- alMizzi, Tahdhib alkamal, x, 51, and Tuhfat al'ashraf, ii, 278, no. 2615;
- alQadi alBaydawi, Tuhfat al'ashraf;
- alKhwarazmi, Maqtal alHusayn (A), i, 144;
- alKhatib alTabrizi, Mishkat almasabih, iii, 258;
- Ibn Kathir, Tafsir (Bulaq edition, on the margin of Fath albayan), ix, 115;
- al-Zarandi, Nazm aldurar alsimtayn, 232;
- alMaqrizi, Ma`rifat ma yajib li Al alBayt alNabawi, 38.
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